If customers are complaining about your business, chances are it's having a negative impact on your profits and could be impacting your company's reputation. Putting a stop to the negative damage of customer complaints and improving service in the future requires a calculated approach to retraining employees. It also requires a company-wide commitment to improving service levels.

Narrow the Focus

Identify key areas where customers have the most complaints. In addition to referencing existing complaints, conduct a customer service satisfaction survey to solicit input from customers about what they like and don't like about your business. Having this information can help you put together a targeted plan for identifying problem areas while maintaining progress in area that customers find satisfactory.

Develop a Strategy

Write out a plan that identifies the key areas of customer service that need immediate attention. Identify short-term issues you can address right away, as well as long-term initiatives that will take longer to implement. Designate point people for tackling each area of the plan, and allocate resources where necessary. Create project plans that detail timelines for implementing service improvement plans, and integrate them into your operating strategy.

Improvement Plan Aspects

Areas to consider incorporating into your customer service improvement plan include employee training to educate staffers about best practices in customer service; alterations to customer policies and operating procedures, such as hours of operation, return policies, warranties and pricing structures; and implementation of customer loyalty programs, such as business referral bonuses, deals and special offers.

Communicate Changes

Once you have a customer service improvement plan in place and operating, let your customers know the action you're taking to improve their overall experiences. This approach lets customers know you listened to their concerns and took action to rectify areas of deficiency. Continue an open dialog with your customers so they feel their opinions are heard. This approach simultaneously gives you an ongoing stream of current information about customer satisfaction levels.

Customer Service Evaluation

Include customer service assessments in your regular employee performance evaluations. If a staffer is deficient in some area of customer service or has complaints lodged against him, address those as you would any other performance issue. Help staffers set goals for improving their service levels and regularly check on individual progress.